Drugs' Lure Far-reaching

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That point was demonstrated last week during the sentencing of two Amish men in Pennsylvania who conspired with members of the Pagan outlaw motorcycle gang to sell cocaine.

The strict Amish religion requires followers to lead modest lives and shun all modern conveniences, such as electricity and automobiles. Usually Amish avoid socializing with those who aren't members of their religion. Most work as farmers and craftsmen in some rural communities of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. They wear plain, dark clothes and ride in horse-drawn wagons.

Yet the greed and desire for a quick high - the foundation of the drug culture - infiltrated the normally insular Amish community. The two Amish men - both in their mid-20s - sentenced in a Philadelphia federal courtroom said that when they were teenagers, ``they got into the wrong crowd.''

Investigators said that the men peddled drugs to several hundred Amish teenagers. During a five-year period, authorities said, the Amish pair sold nearly seven pounds of cocaine, valued at $100,000.

The federal judge sentenced the pair to one year in prison and recommended that they serve in a program that will allow them to hold jobs but spend their nights and weekends in either prison or a halfway house. The men were spared a more severe sentence because they agreed to help in the investigation and secretly recorded conversations they had with bikers regarding their illegal dealings.

Both Amish men now realize the error of their ways. Since their arrests, they have spoken at dozens of community meetings and begged their neighbors for forgiveness.

At their sentencing, one of the Amish men told the crowd, ``Drugs won't do anything but take you down and get you killed.''

That message certainly is not new. But it can't be said too many times.